Head Start: Forward, at last

P-I EDITORIAL BOARD

Updated
10:00 pm PST, Saturday, November 24, 2007

Congress has put Head Start in a better position than ever to deliver good services that prepare children for a lifetime of learning. The passage of a strong Head Start reauthorization bill is a major achievement, made all the more impressive by the repairs to deeply flawed Bush administration proposals.

A lot of grassroots activism as well as congressional bipartisanship and moderation went into making the bill a promising development for a program that is key to providing fair opportunities to children from low-income families. But this is also the kind of Head Start compromise that repeatedly eluded Congress before the Democrats took control of both the Senate and the House.

Unfortunately, Head Start funding will continue to be a problem as long as President Bush is in office. While the bill authorizes more money for Head Start, appropriations are handled separately. With the support of Reps. Doc Hastings and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Bush managed to veto an appropriation bill that would have added a mere $150 million to Head Start. The money was part of a larger health and labor bill, which drew implausible Bush objections to its overall size. Yet the president started the budget with an irresponsible proposal to cut Head Start funding, already so squeezed that some programs here have had to trim services.

The congressional Head Start bill has the advantage of creating as good a system as possible for operating under current funds while paving the way for a time when funding might be closer to adequate. The bill includes goals for more Head Start teachers to have bachelor's degrees, more options for the government to shut down underperforming programs and strong provisions for parental involvement, which increasingly is viewed as critical to a child's entire education.

Head Start has been shown to work well in preparing children for success in school and life. Anything that strengthens Head Start strengthens America. But we need to invest more in Head Start's future, and our own.